Perth movie screening to celebrate Pararoos

Jul 25, 2018

Football West News

The Australia 7-A-side Cerebral Palsy football team will be celebrated next month in a one-off screening in Perth of a movie highlighting their fight to exist.

Tom Ferguson’s The Pararoos tells the story of extraordinary footballers and shines a light on the human side of growing up with a physical disability and just how important football is to their well-being.

Ferguson was embedded with the Pararoos for almost two years in the build-up to the IFCPF World Championships in Argentina, which took place in September last year.

He said: “In 2017, Australia’s only national football team for players with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury or stroke, made the journey to Argentina to compete against the world’s best.

“It had been a three-year struggle to get to this point. Just 18 months earlier, the Pararoos’ Australian Sports Commission funding had been cut entirely and their future remained uncertain.

“Every game in Argentina was a high stakes moment. Every game had the potential to define the side’s future. Every game was a chance to prove themselves to the world.

“The Pararoos’ documentary tells the story of these extraordinary footballers and their battle to exist in an ever-competitive sporting environment. It shines a light on the human side of growing up with a physical disability and the stigma that can be attached.

“And, as the team stand together both on and off the pitch, the enormous power of sport shows us just how important the Pararoos are to Australia’s footballing landscape.

“This is a story that represents all Australians. It shows the Pararoos battling to achieve greatness even when it seems impossible. In the end, you too will believe that anything’s possible.”

The screening, which is supported by Football West, will take place at Wesley College on Sunday, August 19 at 6pm.

– The Pararoos this month took part in the Tri-Nations International Challenge Matches against hosts the US and Canada in San Diego.

West Australian Alessandro La Verghetta was in the squad.

The games were used as preparation for the 2018 IFCPF Asia-Oceania Championships, which will be played at Kish Island, Iran in November.